For all the trials and experiments of the preseason, the Rockets had not given themselves the test they needed most. That came Friday,

They had won in routs and beaten backups. They had lost a few games that were decided before crowds could begin their escape to the exits.

Never had they had the chance to test themselves down the stretch, against a good team playing to win. Then, with 3½ minutes left and the Dallas Mavericks leading by one, the Rockets had their chance. That's when they crashed, with the Mavericks pulling away to end the Rockets' preseason with a 98-94 loss and questions about their ability to win the sorts of games they know they must.

“That's one area I know is a concern, what we're going to do when we really need a basket,” coach Rick Adelman said. “If this was last year, I probably would have posted Yao (Ming) up at the end.

This season is different

“That's what we're trying to find out. That's what we have to work at. What's a comfortable position? We have to keep tinkering and find out what's the best thing for us. Tonight, you don't ever want to lose, but I think opened our eyes a little bit to what we want to do.”

The Rockets trailed 88-85 when Dirk Nowitzki fouled out with 3:49. For the final game of the replacement officials — and the first NBA game of official Lorenzo Brunson — Nowitzki offered a loud-and-clear on-court critique of their work, earning two technical fouls.

But the Rockets made just two of the four free throws, with Shane Battier missing the second technical free throw while Carl Landry inexplicably entered the lane while Battier was shooting.

The Rockets missed their next five shots. Until a Battier 3-pointer and a Kyle Lowry drive in the final seconds, the Rockets had made four of 20 fourth-quarter shots.

Still, the Rockets remained within a point until Dallas twice grabbed rebounds before Jason Kidd banked in a 22-footer with 1:01 left at the shot-clock buzzer.

“You are reminded of how you win close games, and in this game, we didn't come up with key offensive rebounds and didn't execute down the stretch,” Battier said. “Sometimes you forget about that in the preseason because you're trying to get new guys acclimated to new plays and whatnot. You still have to go out and win games. That comes with execution and playing very solid in the fourth quarter.”

In those final minutes, the leading Rockets scorers Friday, Landry (22 points) and Trevor Ariza (17), each missed, with Landry twice missing inside and getting an off-balance drive stuffed by Drew Gooden and Ariza twice misfiring rushed 3s.

“You never learn until you're in the situation,” said Ariza, who had eight rebounds, but made just five of 14 shots. “I think tonight we learned a little bit about ourselves, what we have to do next time we're in those situations.”

All is forgiven, Drew

Until then, the game was memorable for an odd exchange when Gooden was ejected and then forgiven and brought back from the locker room.

Gooden had fouled Pops Mensah-Bonsu as they battled for position to go for the rebound of a Chase Budinger miss. Gooden stood over Mensah-Bonsu, prompting Mensah-Bonsu to jump up in front of Gooden. Gooden then delivered a shove that initially earned him an ejection.

But after a huddle, the officials chose to let that go, hit both players with technical fouls and had someone summon Gooden — all happening while the NBA announced the agreement with the referees to end the lockout.

But the Rockets were concerned with their miscues that followed, knowing it might have been their first close-game test, but that it won't be their last.

“When the season starts, games come down to the last three, four minutes, getting stops and executing,” said Lowry, who had 16 points and nine assists. “We gave ourselves a chance to win. Some unfortunate plays didn't go our way. Some things we need to learn from. Some we need to improve on. We got to get better.”